Finding your voice in your story.
I believe that you are the expert of your life and experiences, and trust in your natural ability to heal. We will honor what it took to get this far, face the scary things, and learn to stay grounded in the tough times - and reclaim your agency and your story.
“Rarely, if ever, are any of us healed in isolation. Healing is an act of communion.”
bell hooks
SPACE TO COLLABORATE
How I Work:
Intersectional, Relational, Anti-Oppression Approaches
I respect that you are the expert of your experiences. As a therapist, it is important for me to provide a non-judgmental and supportive space for clients to unpack things that feel stuck, unresolved - the hard things, and the obstacles that keep you from showing up as your full self.
As a cultural relational therapist, connection is key. We will build and nurture rapport and trust as a core part of our work together. We carry wounds from relationships and it’s also through relationships that we experience our capacity for resilience and healing. As a trauma-informed therapist I am committed to creating a gentle and and brave space for exploring the impact of past experiences - of power and identity - on your present life.
I work collaboratively with my clients. Within a framework based on mutual respect and curiosity, we will explore the stories and patterns of your life. We will clarify your strengths and honor the ways you've made it this far while gently making space for new choices moving forward.
I will bring an anti-oppression lens to our work. Systems of oppression shape our experiences of our pasts and our presents. Unexamined, they can also limit our sense of the possible. I provide space for unlearning the "messagings" that hold back our healing process, both within our selves and in relation to others.
Who I work with
I welcome folks who are ready to prioritize their well-being, healing, and growth. Currently I work with individuals (adult and adolescent), couples, and familial dyads.
Starting therapy can be hard. What brings many folks to seek support at first is to alleviate current distress. You could be anxious, depressed, angry, in grief...in facing this together, you will take your first steps to reclaiming your clarity and capacity for self-compassion.
I am passionate about working with people who
-want to make meaning in their lives and thrive beyond the expectations of others
-are at a crossroads or navigating life/career transitions
-struggle with inner critics and self-doubts
-want to explore how the different building blocks of their identities come together - race, sexuality and gender expression, class, disability status, ancestry, religion - to shape their experience
-desire to learn about, process, and heal from trauma. This can include complex/intergenerational trauma and family legacies of survival and wounding
-want to learn to trust themselves and their needs and to move towards more fulfilling relationships
Many of my clients have come from the caring professions in physical and mental health, as well as teaching and justice-oriented professions. I also work closely with people engaged in the arts as potent ways to engage with and understand their experiences. I have experience with folks in tech and non-profits, and supporting folks who have grappled with workplace issues.
Many folks that come to my office hold a collage of often overlapping identities. This includes children of immigrants/third culture, BIPOC/multiracial folks, and LGBTQIA folks. I am poly and kink aware/affirming. And I also work with folks who live with, love, and strive to better understand/support the above.
“We do not grow absolutely, chronologically. We grow sometimes in one dimension, and not in another; unevenly. We grow partially. We are relative. We are mature in one realm, childish in another. The past, present, and future mingle and pull us backward, forward, or fix us in the present. We are made up of layers, cells, constellations.”